


Guidelines

by Jasandmonty



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Genius AU, Modern AU, slowburn Bellarke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-15 21:31:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3462770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasandmonty/pseuds/Jasandmonty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The prestigious Academic Resourcefulness Competition (ARC) offered tuition money to any child under the age of 18 who could master every field of study and beat 12 other competitors in an intense challenge of intellect. </p><p>Clarke Griffin has everything she needs to win including intelligence, determination, and a set of rules to follow. All she has to do is study, stick to the guidelines, and beat Bellamy Blake at all costs. </p><p>Easy enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Intro

**Author's Note:**

> This is largely based off that one Lifetime show called Child Genius. I just really wanted to write something where the 100 kids are all really talented and intense and smart, so this just kinda...happened.

Clarke Griffin had battle plans. 

She'd learned it when she was 6 years old, at the door to her kindergarten classroom with a Powerpuff Girls lunchbox in her hands. Her dad, Jake, had knelt down and looked straight into her eyes, a warm smile spread on his face. To this day Clarke hasn't forgotten what he looked like, every crease of his face and shade of brown-ish auburn of his hair. 

"Alright, Clarke," He'd squeezed her hand the way he always did before a pep talk. "It's time to be a big girl. Remember what I told you, alright?"

"Always have a plan." She'd recited, the gap of a missing tooth rounding out the words. 

"That's my girl." 

Entering the Academic Resourcefulness Competition (ARC) meant that Clarke had to follow a set of guidelines. Her father wasn't there anymore and her mother sure as hell didn't care about Clarke's academic venture, so she was on her own. Knowing that, she'd made a list of rules to follow at all costs. It was typed in double space MLA format and made into several laminated copies that she had with her at all times. Sometimes she pulled out her list and checked it over, reinforcing the rules so they stuck in her mind. If Clarke broke the rules, she knew she wouldn't win. 

Cheaters never win. 

She stared at it now, sitting in her temporary home of the next 9 weeks. Her hotel room was small, neat. Everyone else in the competition was sharing but Clarke had paid extra to get her own suite. She didn't want some other girl copying her study habits or using her note cards. To others it may have seemed ridiculous, but to Clarke it was a necessity. She needed to win the ARC's grand prize; it would set her future. The ARC included 9 weeks of fierce competition, testing her and 12 others under the age of 18 on every field of academic expertise there was. Textbook size packets were given to them at the start of every week to study for the two topics that would be covered that week. Only 15 of the 500 approved questions would be asked, which was nerve-wracking enough. There was also the added pressure losing horribly, which was not an option for Clarke. 

The winner got enough tuition money for four years of college. Clarke already planned to use it at Mount Weather Univeristy, one of the most prestigious Ivy League schools in the country. Clarke knew she needed that kind of education to be a doctor, and she knew that without that tuition money it wouldn't happen. Not with her mom's minimal income job and constant distraction of a boyfriend, Marcus Kane. 

Clarke was set to win. She glanced down at the laminated sheet in her hands, with the familiar 12 point font reminding her of what was important. The rules, simple and in no particular order, were as follows: 

#1. Do not get close to any of the competitors.  
#2. Do not blow off studying.  
#3. Avoid getting distracted by Kane or Abby.  
#4. Never show emotion when someone is eliminated.  
#5. Do not ever lose your temper.  
#6. Never help another contestant.  
#7. Do not romantically pursue any of your opponents. Just don't.  
#8. Win. 

She wouldn't break any of her own rules. Especially not the last one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will start getting longer when the competition actually starts. Thanks for reading!

It was the meet and greet day, otherwise known as a total waste of time. 

Clarke had her heavy studying packet in her hands, her fingers skimming over the edges. She marveled over just how thick it really was, the amount of questions over just technology and human sciences seemingly unthinkable. Science sections were the ones Clarke felt the most safe in. She'd always excelled at biology, life sciences, medical classes all through school. The subjects she was most afraid of were probably things like literature and history, stuff that had always bored the hell out of her. There was no defined answer in any of those things, it was always up for debate. She hated debate. 

"This is a total sausage fest," A disgusted voice beside her muttered. Clarke whipped her head up from the packet, her eyes falling on the brunette beside her. She hadn't even realized anyone had been there. 

"Uh, yeah." Clarke scanned the rest of the competition. The brunette was right; there were only four other girls besides Clarke in the room. It was then that she realized that everyone else was talking amiably, socializing. Getting to know each other. "Whatever. I'll beat them." 

Rule #1. Do not get close to any of the competitors. She needed to get this girl away from her. 

"You sound like my brother." The brunette scoffed, nodding to someone across the room. Annoyed, Clarke looked up at where the other girl was motioning. It clicked. 

The Blakes. 

The girl Clarke was speaking to was the youngest in the entire competition. Octavia Blake, 16 years old, expert on literature and geography. Her admittance to the tournament had been tainted with a rumor that it was only because of her older brother. 

Bellamy Blake, 18 years old, history legend. He'd swept through dozens of minor academic contests all through his home state of Hawaii and the rest of the US. His name had been in small town news cycles as the "future president of our great nation" which Clarke resented. Every kid to be even remotely above average in a small town filled with mediocre performers was dubbed a future president. Bellamy looked like the epitome of an arrogant prick. 

He had messy curls that framed his tan face, a splatter of freckles that were visible from where she was sitting twenty feet away. He stood with the posture of someone who knew the world was theirs, which Clarke probably stood with too. This guy reminded her of the idiots that had gone to her highschool, who thought they were God's gift to everyone. She already hated him. 

Clarke was thoroughly confused. Bellamy wasn't studying, he was joking around with two other guys at the snack table. She didn't understand how Bellamy Blake, possibly her biggest threat there, could be so relaxed and easy-going at the start of this tortuous process. 

"Looks like he's making friends fast." Clarke merely muttered, glancing at Octavia again. She seemed genuinely friendly, not like the people from Clarke's high school AP classes that would slit your throat if you glanced over at their paper. She'd assumed that everyone at the tournament would be that bloodthirsty, but Octavia was grinning and casual beside her. 

"That's Jasper and Monty." She nodded to the guys on either side of her brother. "Jasper's the tall one, Monty's the shorter. They're from the same hometown. Super close, super protective of each other." 

Clarke already knew of Jasper Jordan and Monty Green. Both supposedly science geniuses, but both probably weak opponents. From what Clarke had learned during intensive research prior to her arrival, they were stoners. Lazy. The kind of guys to stumble during the very first round. She didn't feel threatened. 

"Never thought I'd see someone who ironically wears ski goggles in public at this kind of tournament." She remarked, coating her voice in venom because, seriously, the Jordan kid was wearing goggles on his head. 

"Oh, no actually that's not an ironic thing." Octavia leaned over, like she was going to whisper a secret to Clarke. "He thinks they're a good luck charm." 

Clarke smirked. This would be easier than she thought. 

She decided to save the studying for later. She'd have plenty of time in her hotel room later that night, anyway. Octavia offered to introduce her to people and technically there weren't any rules against meeting people. It would actually help her to identify her opponents individually (even though she'd already classified the stoners as non-threats) so she agreed. 

"Guys," Octavia broke through the tight circle of seven guys and two girls. "This is Clarke Griffin. She's competing."

A chorus of "Whaddup Clarke!" chimed out from the group and she internally groaned. She knew these kind of people well from school. They all acted nice on the first day, like they wanted to be your friend and braid your hair and eat pancakes with you. But soon enough their cheery smiles would turn into scowls and Clarke's hopeful images of a friend would vanish. 

It'd happened too many times. She wouldn't let it happen again. 

"I'm Finn." The guy at the edge of the circle spoke up, shoving his hand into Clarke's and shaking firmly. He had long locks of brown hair, almost too long. She would've pegged him for the stoner instead of Monty or Jasper. "This is Raven," He nodded at the brunette under his arm. "Youngest mechanic in the entire Northeast."

"Nice to meet you." Raven flashed Clarke a quick grin, giving her enough time to marvel at how damn gorgeous Raven was. She had a mini-cupcake in her hand and there was a spot of purple icing just over her upper lip, but she made it work. "Over there are Monty and Jasper, the dream team of technology. Murphy, the math wizard. Then there's Wick, Miller, Harper, and Bellamy. I'm not exactly sure what their skills are because I've been too easy eating these goddamn delicious cupcakes to listen." 

Clarke had memorized every single one of their strengths and weaknesses. They all had biographies printed in the back of the official rule book, but Clarke figured she was probably the only one to actually read it. It was important to know your opponent. 

That's why she knew that Kyle Wick was the second oldest there and a killer at technology and engineering. Nathan Miller had every title of every author on earth engraved in his brain, along with the ability to sort out even the most complicated logic tricks the universe created. Harper (whose last name ominously hadn't been included) was somehow skilled in both math and literature, making her a double threat. And Bellamy Blake was supposedly good at everything. 

"So what's your story?" Finn nudged her, the smallest hint of a grin on his face. 

"Huh?"

"Why are you here? Everyone has a reason, right?" 

"I thought everyone's reason was to use the tuition money." Clarke said, making about half the people in the circle grin. 

"Some people have different reasons than others." Monty explained, giving Clarke a gentle smile. She noticed the way Jasper had gone quiet beside him, how he looked to Monty with admiration in his eyes as he spoke. "In the rules it says you can spend the money however you want as long as it forwards someone's education. It doesn't have to just be for college tuition." 

"Well mine is for college tuition." Clarke announced shortly. She had no idea how you could possibly forward your education at this point without going to college. 

"Either way," Bellamy spoke up in his gravelly, arrogant voice. "You can all just pack your bags now. I've got this." 

The rest of the contestants laughed and shoved each other, all proclaiming themselves as the future winner. Clarke only stared at Bellamy, watching him with what she hated to admit was interest. She didn't understand how someone could be just that confident. He wasn't just joking around about being an academic legend like the rest of them, he said it with enough conviction that made Clarke think he truly believed it. 

She knew she was smart. Her report card and test grades confirmed it. But coming to this contest had Clarke second guessing herself every five minutes. The night before had been spent conjuring up images of her competitors as encyclopedia-memorizing super geniuses. Really they were just what she was; hopeful teenagers with above average IQ's. 

But Bellamy Blake seemed different. She needed to get rid of him first.


	3. Chapter 3

500 questions and answers about technology and human sciences spun around Clarke's head. She'd spent the night before staring at the tiny print in the packet, cramming every fact in her mind until sleep overcame her at around 3 AM. 

They had an hour of studying, but that went by pretty quickly. Clarke was eager to get through one round so she could get a good enough grip on what competing would be like. Until then her overloaded brain supplied her with terrifying scenarios. During her study period, Clarke noticed that, once again, Bellamy wasn't doing any studying. Instead he was listening to music and quizzing his sister with what looked like homemade flash cards. For someone who probably hadn't slept the night before, he looked pretty descent. 

Eventually the director of the tournament, Dr. Jaha, called them into the competition room. It was a large space with an audience, which Clarke hadn't been expecting. Some kids waved excitedly to their parents, but with a simple scan of the crowd Clarke knew that Abby hadn't shown up for a surprise visit. She was probably with Kane anyway. 

"Rule #3." Clarke muttered under her breath as she moved to take her seat in the risers. Octavia perched on her left, Jasper on her right. Jaha took his spot in front of the microphone stand where two other adults were at his sides. 

"Welcome to the Academic Resourcefulness Competition." Jaha's voice silenced the nervous chatter in the room. "Round one will be over technology and human sciences. All 15 questions will be given verbally and you must answer each within thirty seconds. If you do not know, you may pass. First up, John Murphy." 

Clarke tried to relax, but the tension was building. Murphy was 17, like most of them, and his last name was right in the middle of the alphabet. The order was seemingly random, which put Clarke on edge. 

"Ready." Murphy managed to sound bored from where he stood at the podium, his eyes sweeping the room. 

"What does the acronym CPU stand for?" 

Clarke answered it in her head just as Murphy did. "Central Processing Unit." 

"Correct." 

Clarke listened intently the entire time, her eyes never leaving Murphy. He seemed calm and did pretty well, only missing 3 and passing on 1 about atomic fission.  
He took his seat when it was over and Harper went next, scoring 9 out of 15. Then went Raven, who plowed through in record time and got 14 out of 15, probably earning herself a spot in the top 3. During Wick's round Clarke began to relax, finding herself knowing most of the answers. Her eyes wandered to the other competitors and found that the rest of them were as zen as she was, except for Jasper. 

Because he was seated directly beside her, Clarke could see the slight shake of his hands and the whiteness of his face. She couldn't help the smirk that came to her lips. He was both lazy and nervous. Jasper Jordan definitely wouldn't last long. 

"Clarke Griffin." 

She composed herself and stepped up to the podium, running her hands over the smooth wood. The information was there, she'd followed all the rules. She'd done everything right and it was time to get that damn tuition. "Ready." 

"Name the two founders of Microsoft."

It came from her lips before she even had time to process. "Bill Gates and Paul Allen." 

"Correct. Who wrote the three laws of robotics?"

"Issac Aimov." 

"Correct." 

She hit her stride. Clarke could feel the gathering adrenaline in her veins as she heard the same, monotone "correct" over and over again. She didn't have time to wish that her mom were watching or that her dad could be there, in that moment she was a genius. She was winning. 

"IBM stands for what?" 

"International Business Model."

"Incorrect. You scored 14 out of 15, you may take your seat." 

Regret washed over Clarke in a swift tidal wave. International Business Machine. Where the hell had model come from? She cursed herself quietly as she took her seat, wishing she'd gone back over that one question twice. 

"Awesome job!" Octavia whispered from beside her, giving two cheerful thumbs up. Clarke allowed herself to grin at the other girl, just as Jasper's name was called. He stiffened noticeably, forcing himself up after a moment. Clarke relaxed in her seat. She was done for another week, now she could watch someone else fail. 

Except Jasper didn't fail. He answered every question as soon as it came, never once taking a moment to think. His leg bounced and his hands were still visibly shaking, but at the end he was met with uproarious applause (mostly coming from Monty) and a perfect score. He returned back to his seat, clearly making an effort to even out his breathing. 

"Nice job," Clarke found herself murmuring numbly, still in shock. He grinned widely at her, genuinely happy. 

"Thanks!" 

Octavia went next, scoring a decent 10 out of 15. Then went Miller. He did well on human sciences but clearly couldn't handle the technology questions because he ended up passing on half of them. In the end he only scored a weak 7 out of 15. Then two competitors that Clarke hadn't bothered to learn the name of because their areas of strength were very obscure things like astrology and ancient art. One of them only scored a 4 out of 15, and Clarke had to admit that she kind of felt bad for the guy.  
Monty went, and Jasper cheered so loudly that Jaha had to tell them to "Keep it at a respectful volume," making Jasper pout. Monty scored 13 out of 15, making Clarke exhale full relief. If Bellamy would just score less than 14, she'd have her place in the top 3. 

He took the podium confidently, as he did all things, and smiled at the judges. "I'd just like to thank you for this remarkable opportunity."  
Octavia smiled proudly. Clarke nearly bit her tongue in half to avoid making a comment about his obvious ass kissing. When Bellamy's round started, he did flawless. He didn't miss a single one and Clarke's heart rate had begun to rise until the last two questions, which Bellamy passed on.

"Thank you, Mr. Blake, you scored 13 out of 15." 

The look on his face when he walked back was one of complete satisfaction, as if he had scored perfectly. It was strange how quickly he'd passed on the last two, considering the fact that they were both pretty easy questions and he didn't seem to even think about the answer before giving up. 

"Unfortunately two of you will not be advancing to the next round." Jaha announced after the polite applause. "When I call your name, please step forward and receive your certificate of achievement." 

Clarke hoped she never had to hold one of those certificates. 

"John Mbege," That was the guy who scored 4. "And Nathan Miller." 

Clarke was glad that someone she identified as a potential threat was out. At the same time, two people that she'd written off as lazy stoners had done remarkably well. She needed to re-evaluate. 

"Congratulations to Clarke Griffin, Raven Reyes, and Jasper Jordan for placing top 3 in today's round. We'll see you all next week." 

It seemed to have gone so fast. A week worth of studying all led up to about thirty minutes of rapid-fire questions. Still, she was satisfied. More than satisfied. Top 3 in the very first round was a great way to start and Clarke felt a wave of elation surge through her. The elation faded when she realized that the only place left to go was back to her empty hotel room, where more studying awaited her. 

"Yo Clarke!" Jasper's loud voice snapped her out of her self pitying thoughts. He was standing with Raven and Monty, a wide grin plastered on his face. "We were thinking about going to get some dinner. Got the rest of the week to study, anyways. You wanna come?" 

Rule #1 circled Clarke's mind, her conscience trying reminding her that cheaters never win. She wasn't supposed to become friends with these people, it would only throw her off. 

But. 

At the same time, the prospect of returning to her empty room was anything but exciting. Clarke didn't want to spend another night staring at tiny print on the new study packet. Jasper was still waiting for an answer, and though Clarke's conscience was screaming at her not to, she simply nodded. "Sure."  
///  
Somehow, despite being in a new city, Raven had known exactly where to eat. 

They ended up at a comfortable little café on the water of the river that ran through the center of the town. They were seated outside in a cute patio area where strung lights haloed over them, lighting the dim evening.Raven was seated on her left, Jasper and Monty across from them. The boys were obviously enjoying themselves, currently throwing fries in each other's mouths from varying distances. 

"We're in public, you idiots." Raven said, though she didn't really seem too embarrassed over their loud laughing. In fact, she'd had a grin plastered on her face since the competition. Currently she turned to Clarke, we smile widening. "I was worried for a second there that you weren't going to come with us." 

Clarke covered her unease with a slight grin. "I had no reason not to. Other than studying..." 

"Studying?" Jasper seemed horrified at the thought. "Didn't you spend like, all last night cramming for today? There's no way I'm doing that two nights in a row." 

So she was right about him being lazy. How the hell did he do so well then? Clarke figured that since she wasn't there to make friends, she had nothing to lose by asking. "Is all that studying how you got a perfect score today?" There was an unintentional edge to her voice, but Jasper didn't seem to care. He just bopped his head into a nod that synched with the loud indie music the cafe was playing through the speakers. 

"I'm a master at cramming info last minute. That's how I'm getting through highschool, anyways. And with Monty's tutoring." 

"I started giving him second lessons in seventh grade." Monty chimed in, stealing one of Jasper's remaining fries. 

"Why?" Clarke asked, half-curious and half-just trying to make conversation. 

"He's my best friend." Monty shrugged, like it should have been obvious. 

"I couldn't focus in class." Jasper added. "Monty made more sense. I think the way he put things was just simpler--" He stopped abruptly, staring at his phone from where it had begun to vibrate on the table. Monty and Raven were just staring at him with matching expressions of concern. Jasper hesitantly scooted his chair away from the table and mumbled a quick, "be right back," before lifting his phone to his ear and hurrying to the edge of the patio by the water. 

"Who was that?" Clarke asked, oblivious as to why the table had just gone silent. 

"His dad." Monty murmured, worried eyes transfixed at the spot where his best friend stood slumped over the wooden railing. 

"I don't understand--" Clarke began, but Raven swiftly cut her off with a faux cheerfulness that Clarke was too familiar with. It was the kind of look that academic kids gave her when they were pretending to be her friend right before the tests that would place them in higher ranking classes. It was the fake look that her mind knew to reject and hate. 

"So where were your parents tonight, Clarke?" 

"Uh," She didn't want to get into it with people who were basically strangers. "Not here."

"We get it." Monty smiled encouragingly, finally looking away from Jasper. His hand still lingered on the back of his friend's empty chair, but the rest of him was giving full attention to Clarke. "My parents don't come either. They don't really care much if I win this, I'm just trying to for myself."

"My mom cares," Clarke said slowly, carefully. She didn't want to reveal too much. "But she cares more about her boyfriend."

"I feel that!" Raven practically shouted. "Same with my mom. God, I wish this thing was in New Orleans. Everyone there just gives you booze, they don't even try to look at your fake ID."

Clarke was suddenly very glad this thing wasn't in New Orleans. 

Jasper shuffled back to the table and all but collapsed in his seat, reaching for the fries on his plate and stuffing a remarkable amount in his mouth. Monty laid a solemn hand on his shoulder, looking like someone in Jasper's family had just died despite the fact that he was angrily chewing french fries. "Did he get it?" He murmured lowly to Jasper. He merely shook his head and reached for his soda, downing it like a shot. Clarke had begun to wonder if she was the only one here who wasn't fully immersed in drinking alcohol. 

"Whatever!" Jasper flung out the word bitterly, plastering a wide grin on his face. His hands were shaking nearly as bad as they had during competition and this time Clarke had no clue why. "Whatever you know, Clarke, listen to me." 

He sounded like he was drunk. She nodded anyways, unable to suppress the smile that came when she saw how serious his face was. 

"Okay. I'm listening." 

"You study too hard. I can tell because you look really tired like, all the time. You still look totally bomb obviously--"  
Raven and Monty nodded their support. "But studying and being super smart is all arbitrary. It's only a passport to amazing experiences, am I right?" 

Clarke stared. Raven punched Jasper lightly. "No one gets what you're talking about." 

"I mean look at this place!" Jasper flung out an arm, almost smacking Monty in the face. "We're having a fine dining experience--" He gestured at the burgers and fries on the table, "--in like, modern day Verona or some shit. And we got here because we're smart." 

"Do you want the money?" Clarke found herself asking. She didn't, and probably never would, understand why that phone call made Jasper so worked up, but his sudden spark of life was interesting. "The tuition money?" 

He quieted down after that, settling back into his chair. "Yeah, I want it. It's my only chance." 

"Chance to do what?" Clarke asked. 

"You know, the usual stuff." Monty interjected hurriedly, clearly trying to change the topic. "College is a basic need now." 

Jasper nodded, his easy smile returning to his face. He looked less worked up now, back to his normal self that she'd gotten acquainted with. Conversation carried on like usual for awhile, and Clarke found herself wondering what Jasper meant by his only chance. Was his situation like hers, in the way that he needed the money to get to the one school of his dreams?

If he wanted it as badly as she did, Clarke found herself half wishing Jasper could win too. 

Warning alarms blared in her head then, reminding her of rule #1. Wishing for another opponent to win was strictly against everything she believed in. It would ruin everything. Suddenly feeling sick, Clarke stood from her seat abruptly. "I have to go."

"What?" Raven looked up at her incredulously. "You're not even done eating."

"No I know it's just--I need to leave. I'm sorry it's uh, it's about my mom. I was...supposed to do something and I didn't. But thanks for the food and...bye." She forced her jacket on and hurried away, not even looking back at the group of confused people that she'd become dangerously close to considering as friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this ended up being more Jasper-centric than originally intended but he's my fav so yknow it was kind of inevitable. I'm going to go more into his story in a couple more chapters. Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are super appreciated. Also hit me up on Tumblr @babeliciousrockgod


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some bad things happen to Clarke and someone gives her unexpectedly good advice for no reason

Clarke avoided everyone for the rest of the week. 

Someone knocked on her hotel door on the second day of studying, but she ignored it. She could feel herself going stir crazy while she listened the sounds of the rest of the competitors splashing and laughing in the hotel pool outside her window. She didn't care. If she wanted to stay in the top three, she had to follow the rules. She'd come so close to breaking them and that would ruin her completely. 

So Clarke tried to jam in all the studying she could. The image of Raven's confused expression when she'd left still loomed in her mind and the slight hurt in Monty's voice haunted her while she tried to study. In the end she was left with a shaky grasp on the mathematics and astronomy section. That especially sucked because Clarke had never been the best with math. 

The moment she entered the competition building, Raven made her way straight toward her. 

"Why'd you ditch us the other day?" She demanded, voice even and eyes glaring.

Clarke walked around her, hurrying to one of the tables in the back of the room so she could set up a fort of practice packets and water bottles. "I told you, I had to leave. It was nothing personal--"

"If you don't want to be friends with us, just say so." Raven cut her off. "But don't act like you like us if you don't." 

Clarke noted that Raven had consistently said "us" instead of "me" as if she wanted to remind Clarke that she'd be losing three potential friends instead of just one. Or maybe that's not what she intended to do, maybe she just wanted to protect Monty and Jasper. 

Either way, Clarke felt guilty about all of it. 

"Look." She sighed. "I need to win this. And I can't have the distraction of going out every night or swimming until midnight in the hotel pool. You understand, don't you?" 

Raven's eyes flashed. "Sure. I get it. You're focused, we're not. You'll win, we won't. Have fun studying, Princess Clarke." 

It felt like Raven had slapped her. Clarke took a slow, meaningful exhale and forced her eyes down to the study material. She didn't focus on Jasper and Monty's confused glances, just stared at the numbers on her study packet. 

Clarke walked into the competition room feeling a shaky sense of nervousness that hadn't been there the week before. She eased back in her chair, making sure to sit away from Raven, Monty, or Jasper. Instead she collapsed in an empty seat near the top row and tried to review the different constellations in her head. 

"Hey." She felt a light tap on her shoulder. "You're Clarke, right?" 

She turned to find Bellamy looking down at her from his seat on the top row of risers. He didn't look nervous at all, she observed enviously. "Yeah. You're Bellamy." 

"Yes I am." He confirmed with a nod of his head. "Listen, I just wanted to thank you for being so nice to Octavia. She was nervous to come here and she told me that you went out of your way to be nice to her so...thanks." 

Clarke blinked. She honestly couldn't recall a time that she'd gone out of her way to be nice to anyone, let alone some girl she'd just met a week ago. It made her wonder why Octavia would lie to Bellamy about something like that. 

Still, he said it with such sincerity that Clarke merely nodded and gave him a quick grin before turning back around.  
She sent a glance toward Octavia, who was deep in conversation with Harper. She was smiling widely, talking with wide hand gestures while Harper laughed at whatever story she was telling. Clarke considered the fact that maybe Octavia didn't have an ulterior motive. Maybe she was just nice. 

"Competitors, welcome back to round two." Jaha's voice cut off all conversation. "As you hopefully know, the categories will be astronomy and mathematics. First up is Finn Collins." 

Clarke didn't even bother to pay attention to her competitors. She was too busy trying to re-review to notice that Finn had scored 11 or that Monty scored 13 or that Murphy scored 15. 

"Clarke Griffin." 

She took a deep breath and moved to the podium. She felt the need to fake confidence, so she overcompensated for the lack of it by glaring daggers at the small group of parents in the audience.

"Ready." 

"Take 132. Add 70. Subtract 13. Divide that by 2."

Clarke took a moment, trying to sort out the clutter in her brain. But she could feel Raven staring at her when she tried to subtract the 13 and could hear Jasper and Monty's laughing from the night before when she tried to divide.

"36." 

"Incorrect." 

God, she'd already fucked up. Clarke tried not to let the flames in her cheeks become noticeable, tried not to give any onlooking parents the satisfying feeling of "at least that isn't my kid" with their smug parent smiles that she was so accustomed to. Before she was even ready, Jaha read out the next question. 

"Which constellation is directly below the Ursa Major in the month of May?" 

Clarke closed her eyes. Something was wrong with her today. She couldn't think, couldn't even open her eyes and face the bright stage lights and the judging stares of her fellow competitors. She probably looked like such a joke right now, taking such a long time to think of one simple answer that the rest of them were probably repeating in their heads. 

"Leo Major."

"Incorrect." 

Clarke wanted to cry. Desperately, she shot a glance into the competitor section, completely prepared to see laughter and smugness. Instead, she saw something else. 

She saw reality. 

She saw 10 other kids looking back at her blankly, their lips forming the answers they were reviewing in their heads. Most weren't even looking at her, most had their eyes downcast or scanning the crowd of parents. Octavia was looking at her though, and she was giving Clarke a soft and reassuring smile. The brunette was mouthing something too, but it wasn't answers to long division problems. It was encouragement. 

"You can do this." 

Clarke was suddenly filled with a new determination. Octavia was right, she could do this. She was Clarke fucking Griffin, and she'd worked harder for this than anyone. She faced Jaha again, steeling herself for the next question. 

"Take the square root of 64. Multiply it times 81. Divide that by 6." 

It only took a few seconds. "108." 

"Correct." 

It was like magic. After that, she didn't take more than a few seconds to answer. Only one more was missed, and that was because of pronunciation. Usually Clarke would beat herself up over missing something so trivial, but she was glad to still be alive after the start she'd had. 

In the end, Wick and Sterling went home with certificates clutched in their hands. Murphy, Raven, and Harper made it into the top. Bellamy, Clarke noticed with a jolt, was only just below the top scoring places and once again he seemed completely at ease about it. Almost as if it had been purposeful. The first thing Clarke did when she got out of the competition room was run to Octavia and hug her. It felt foreign to display such obvious affection for someone, but she still held Octavia tightly, whispering a thank you over her shoulder. 

She caught Bellamy's glance. He was grinning at her from his spot beside Harper, giving her a less than subtle thumbs up. 

"Thank you," she repeated breathlessly, "seriously. I don't know what was wrong with me, I just--"

"Clarke." Octavia's eyes were flickering with amusement, like she hadn't been expecting Clarke to have a near mental breakdown. "You only missed 3 questions."

She stared. "Yeah, but out of 15. I missed 1/5 of the questions."

Octavia didn't seem to grasp the weight of this. She just shook her head, a careless smile on her face. "It doesn't matter. I'll see you later, okay?" 

Clarke left, avoiding Raven and the boys successfully. She stopped for lunch at some pizza place that was overrun by summer enjoying middle schoolers before returning to the hotel and promptly falling asleep on her bed. 

She woke up a few hours later to the sound of a Skype call. Clarke groaned. Sleep had been scarce since starting the competition and she finally felt relaxed enough to get a few hours in, but of course her mom had to choose then to call. Still, Clarke reminded herself sternly, this meant that her mom was making an effort to care about the tournament. She was probably calling because she knew that math wasn't Clarke's best subject and she wanted to offer some soothing words of advice. Clarke clicked on the camera, greeting her mother with a smile before she realized that Kane was sitting directly beside her on the screen. 

"Oh." Clarke's voice was flatter than she'd intended. "Kane. Hi." 

"How's it going, Clarke?" He still had that annoying fake kindness to his tone when he spoke. He was trying too hard to make her trust him, it was obvious in the easy smile on his face and the fact that he had his arm around her mother's shoulders like he owned her. 

"It's okay." Clarke said slowly. "What's going on with you two?" 

"We actually have some very exciting news for you." Abby announced with an eager grin. Clarke's excitement was suddenly back when she remembered the scholarships and possible college offers waiting for her back home. Competition had been such a whirl of studying and stress that she'd completely forgotten about all the important aspects to her future at home. 

"Did MIT send something?" She asked hopefully. "Was it that medical sciences scholarship?" 

Abby's smile faltered a bit, but it was quickly patched back up. "Actually, honey," she looked at Kane, her hesitant smile growing, "the news is about us." 

"Us." Clarke repeated numbly. "Like you and me?" 

"No," Abby drew out the word, like she was waiting for Clarke to guess correctly. "Us as in, Kane and me."

Kane looked directly at her through the crappy laptop camera and smiled the fake-dad smile he probably practiced in the mirror at night. "Your mother and I are getting married."

"What? You--you're what? Married?" Clarke spluttered, mind reeling. "When? When did you even propose?" 

"Ah," Kane seemed hesitant again. Nervous to tell her truth because he knew the truth sucked. "Actually, I proposed the night you left." 

"It was very romantic." Abby added hurriedly, as if that would help. "He took me to that Italian place in the city that you love so much." 

"You proposed to my mother as soon as I left the state?" Clarke whispered, staring hollowly at the fake smiles on their faces. "And then you waited to tell me in the middle of my competition?" 

"Honey, we wanted to choose a time that you would be comfortable for this to all happen." Abby told her desperately. 

"Well you did a terrible job!" Clarke bit out, venom and volume adding to fierceness she was throwing at them. "I'm at this stupid competition because I wanted to make Dad proud! And as soon as I leave you just turn around and replace him with--with Kane?"

The webcam, despite being terrible and low quality, could still pick up the paleness of Abby's face. "I am not replacing your father," she said slowly, deliberately, "I am just trying to move on." 

Clarke scoffed, trying to show them that she was angry as opposed to miserable. Tears were already burning in her eyes but she forced herself to stay stone faced, expressionless. 

"So that's what you call it?" She growled, watching Kane and her mother exchange a look of unease. 

"Clarke," Kane's soothing tone pissed her off even more than it had five minutes ago, "sometimes we have to let go of the past--"

She slammed her laptop shut. Clarke finally allowed her tears to slip out in the privacy of her own room, stifling short sobs in the silence. Kane's gentle voice still stung her, making anger ignite in her chest. 

How could they possibly think that she would accept any of this? Why would they expect her to "let go" of her real father just because a replacement came around? That's all Kane was; a cheap replacement that could never live up to the original. 

She suddenly couldn't stand being alone for another second. Clarke pulled on her jacket before she knew what she was doing, marching out of the room and down the hall. Octavia had been there earlier to help when the world was collapsing. She could do it again. 

But Octavia didn't answer the door. Bellamy Blake did. 

"Clarke?" He stared with wide, alarmed eyes. "Hey, what's wrong? What happened?" 

She hesitated. It had taken two weeks to trust Octavia, and Bellamy was only someone that Clarke had really spoken to about twice. Still, going back to an empty room when all of these thoughts were swirling in her head would definitely end up in some kind of rage induced vandalism, so she shouldered past Bellamy and entered the room. 

"Do you need anything?" Bellamy asked, unfailingly polite. It was probably from years of charisma lessons and sucking up to teachers. Still, it did the trick. Clarke smiled. 

"I just need to talk." She murmured, wiping at her eyes. "So listen." 

Bellamy nodded, taking a seat on the opposite bed with the same light of amusement that his sister had had earlier that day. 

"Okay," Clarke took a deep breath, "so my mom has been dating this guy named Marcus. Marcus Kane. I just call him Kane, because first name basis is not something that he deserves. He's terrible, no one that deserves to be in my house and living with my mom. Anyways, I didn't think they would last long because he's not what my mother wants or even needs right now, but they called a few minutes ago and they--they're engaged." 

"What's wrong with him?" Bellamy asked. "Is he violent? A drunk?" His eyes darkened on behalf of her mother's safety. "Does he hit her?" 

"No, no, none of that." Clarke said hurriedly. She suddenly felt a sense of shame at her complaints. The way she'd dramatized everything probably had made it seem like Kane was a deranged, morally skewed person. He wasn't. "He's just... annoying." 

"Ah." Bellamy smirked a little. "Yes, that is a true tragedy." 

Clarke really wished Octavia was there instead of her brother. 

"You don't understand." Clarke muttered. "I don't know why I expected you to." 

"Because you don't know me very well?" Bellamy suggested, leaning forward. "And you came in here looking for my little sister so you could vent and had to settle for me?" 

"You're not wrong." Clarke grumbled sullenly. "I was looking for Octavia." 

"O is a great listener." Bellamy said, and he got a soft sort of smile on his face that Clarke assumed always came with the topic of Octavia. "It's like I said earlier. She seems to really like you, and you treat her well. And anyone that Octavia likes, I like. So I'll listen to your problems and give you the proper feedback." 

Clarke couldn't help the laugh that suddenly escaped. "Oh yeah? Like how?" 

"Liiike," Bellamy's chocolaty eyes drifted up to the hotel ceiling, searching for a good answer, "I'll agree that parents getting remarried sucks." 

"Did your parent do that too?"

Bellamy nodded. "My mom. A few times, actually." 

Clarke tried not to let the shock show on her face. She thought that her mom shacking up with Kane was bad, but apparently Bellamy and Octavia had already experienced it more than once. It must have been awful. 

"Then I guess we have something in common." Clarke finally managed to say, keeping her tone light. 

"You seemed to hit it off with Raven and the wonder twins," Bellamy noted, "pretty good company. Raven always hangs around her boyfriend, Finn. I'm not crazy about Finn. Other than that, they're alright." 

"Yeah." Clarke murmured, staring down at the duvet of Octavia's bed. "I actually think I messed that up a little." 

Bellamy looked up with sudden interest. Clarke immediately regretted the outburst. Now there was no way to avoid the questions. Now she'd be forced to explain what she'd done. 

"What happened?" 

She dragged in a sigh and covered her eyes. "We were all together and I just kind of...cut them off. Left really suddenly, ignored them despite the fact that they were being really nice to me. That's my forte." 

"So you just kind of panicked?" 

"I guess so." Clarke normally wouldn't bother saying this to Bellamy, a practical stranger. She didn't normally consider telling someone that she barely knew, and wasn't sure if she even liked, about the rules that she'd made for herself. But normally she wasn't this tired and normally her mom wasn't marrying Kane and normally everything didn't feel this wrong. 

So she said, "I can't afford to lose this." 

"So you're trying to stay focused?" 

Clarke nodded. "But I should have been nicer." 

"Winning is important for me, too, you know?" Bellamy edged toward her a little, in a kind of comforting way. He was much better at being comforting than Kane. "But sometimes you can't focus on what might happen after everything is over. Sometimes you have to focus on what's happening while it's happening."

"That's actually good advice." Clarke admitted sulkily. "Thank you." 

He grinned. "No problem." 

She stayed for a little bit longer, talking about the topics and their competitors and things that could keep a conversation steady without forcing them to think. Eventually she decided to leave and just go to sleep, content with the gained distractions. As she shuffled out into the stiff hotel hallway, Bellamy hung his head out the door and smirked. 

"By the way, Clarke, I think you can win and still be nice. It's working already."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god, i know this literally took me 2 months to update and that suuuucks. but i have once again seen the light and will continue to update. thank you for sticking with me this long and reading :) ALSO hit me up on tumblr @babeliciousrockgod


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winning, once again, ruins everything.

“I’m a fucking rule breaker.” 

Clarke’s face was mashed into her pillow. She could picture the lifted eyebrows and look of amusement that was most definitely on Octavia’s face right at that moment. Clarke was expecting to be asked for an explanation, maybe even have an inspirational speech thrown her way. Instead, she was met with silence from her study partner (not _technically_ against the rules because she _could_ be using this time to get insider information on Octavia’s studying habits to take her down) so Clarke sat up and checked the clock. 

Fifteen minutes until competition and she still had the same amount of problems as last week, if not more. She was still studiously avoiding Raven and the boys, Kane and her mother were still sending her texts every hour to “check up on her”, and she was still a fucking rule breaker.

Though the world was collapsing around Clarke, she at least felt prepared for the tournament round today. As it turned out, studying with a partner kind of worked. Studying with two partners worked even better. Her sessions with Octavia and the occasional interested Bellamy had the topics of zoology and botany sealed tight into her brain. She wasn’t even frantically reviewing the packet. 

Octavia was.

She’d had her eyes fixed on the thing for so long that Clarke was starting to worry. In the short time that she and Octavia had known each other, Clarke had never heard the girl go for so long without speaking. Even when they were in the stands at the tournament, Octavia still whispered answers and encouragements under her breath. 

“We need to go, Octavia.” Clarke finally reached over and took the packet from her hands. 

“Great.” Octavia sighed. “I hate botany. Who studies botany?”

“Monty does.” Clarke reminded her, reaching for her bag on Bellamy’s bed. The acute awareness of her rule breaking returned as she fixed her hair in someone else’s mirror and slipped on shoes that were borrowed from her opponent. She ignored it.

“Have you made any progress with those two?” Octavia asked, shuffling towards the door. She seemed slightly subdued, Clarke observed vacantly, quieter than normal. She briefly wondered if something had happened between Octavia and Bellamy, but Clarke had to quickly remind herself that it was none of her business and that she shouldn’t even care, anyways. Rule #1. Do not get close to any competitors. 

_It’s too late for that,_ Clarke’s voice of reason reminded her, _you’re already studying with her and her brother._

“No.” She was mostly talking to herself, trying to shake some sense into her brain. Octavia, taking it as an answer to her question, shook her head sympathetically.

“That’s too bad. The whole point of doing things like this is to become friends with new people. It sucks when you can’t.”  
Clarke shut off the lights to the hotel room and glanced back at the vacated beds of the Blake siblings. “Yeah,” she muttered as she shut the door behind her, “it does.”  
/////  
Botany, as it turned out, was actually kind of interesting. 

“The largest flower in the world with a height of 10 feet and a width of 3 feet is called what?”

Monty, botany master and current object of everyone’s envy, didn’t miss a beat. “Titan arums.” 

“Correct.” Jaha almost sounded like he was proud of this random kid in the remaining circle of competitors. “Congratulations, Monty. You scored 15 out of 15 in record time, I might add. Well done.” 

Above the polite clapping from everyone else, Jasper was cheering for his best friend like an over-enthusiastic fan at a Beyoncé concert. Jaha didn’t even bother to reprimand him. Clarke watched Monty rejoin Jasper in the stands and couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride that clearly violated rule #1. She let it slide.

“Clarke Griffin.” 

She scored 13 out of 15, which only slightly pissed her off. She knew that she could have done better, if only she’d remembered how many liters of water the Baobab tree stored in its trunk. Still, she was doing better than most of the other competitors. 

For some reason, zoology was majorly messing with some of her toughest opponents. Jasper, for example, looked like he was about to cry when he hurried from the stage with a measly score of 9 points. The only one who had scored lower was Harper, with a score of 8. Unless one of the three remaining competitors scored lower, he was guaranteed to be sent home. Clarke felt a pang in her chest at the thought of Jasper leaving without giving her any time to recuperate their almost-friendship. She would miss his loud cheering from the stands, the sight of his stupid goggles on his head and the sound of his laughing that echoed down the hallways. 

“Octavia Blake.” 

Octavia didn’t walk up to the stand with her usual confidence. In fact, she kept her eyes glued to the ground and Clarke could just barely detect a slight shake to her hands. Clarke suddenly felt a rush of panic. Octavia was always confident in her rounds, even when she didn’t have the subjects down as thoroughly as necessary. Her visible anxiety here gave Clarke the uneasy feeling that maybe Octavia didn’t have these subjects down at all.

 _Get more than 9 points,_ Clarke inwardly begged Octavia, _you only need 9 points to beat Jasper._

“Burma’s giant bamboo can grow how tall in one day?”

The pause between the question and the answer was centuries long. Clarke could feel the stress bouncing between her and Bellamy, who was biting his lip a seat over. They both knew the answer. Bellamy was mouthing it and Clarke was chanting it in her head, hoping it would transfer to Octavia. 17 inches. 

“20 inches.” 

“Incorrect.” 

The round passed with flurries of “incorrect” which made Clarke’s heart sink a bit more each time Jaha said it. It was the worst scenario at the end, with just one question left and a score of 9 points. Octavia only needed to get the last question right to beat Jasper, or else she was out. There was no one left after her to do any worse.  
Clarke felt like she was watching the ending of a movie. It was designed to make you root for someone, to sit on the edge of your seat while you waited to find out their fate. The best people in movies always succeeded, always achieved their goal. Octavia was arguably the best person Clarke knew. She deserved this. 

“From the bark of what tree did the first aspirin or pain reliever come from?”

Clarke knew it. They’d gone over this question during their study sessions, she and Octavia. Bellamy had been there, too. He knew it. Everyone in the stands knew it. 

_Willow tree._

Suddenly, Octavia smiled. Clarke felt her heart lift, felt Bellamy relax against his seat. Octavia remembered, she knew it. Everything would be fine. She’d stay and Jasper would go. Clarke would have to hurry to meet Jasper before he left, so she could talk to him and fix what she’d done, maybe even—

“Oak tree.” 

Clarke swore to God that her heart stopped beating. 

“I’m sorry, that is incorrect. You scored 8 out of 15.”

She felt numb as Octavia walked back up and took her seat. She felt numb as she clapped for Monty, Raven, and Murphy who all stood up to be recognized as the top three. It wasn’t until Octavia’s name was called to get her certificate of achievement that she felt the long forgotten feeling of tears burning her eyes, blurring her vision. 

“I thought I knew it.” Octavia murmured into Bellamy’s shoulder as they hugged when it was over. “I thought I had it.” 

Clarke didn’t care about rule #1 or even rule #3. She hugged Octavia and let a few tears stain the other girl’s shirt while everyone else emptied out of the competition room. The certificate was crumpled in Octavia’s fist, but Bellamy took it and smoothed it back out. He handed it to his little sister when she finally pulled away from Clarke. She watched in a detached sort of way as Bellamy smoothed back his sister’s hair and pressed the certificate into her hands. 

“You did good, O.” He whispered. Then, so quietly that Clarke almost missed it, he whispered into her hair, “I promise I’ll win for you.” 

Clarke had to let them have their sibling moment. She told Octavia that she’d see her at the hotel later and hurried out of the room. She kept her head down, trying to wipe away the tears on her face. She didn’t cry often (ever!) but when she did, everyone could tell. Clarke hurried past the herd of proud parents congratulating their surviving kids and fast-walked down the narrow hall that led to the prep room. 

She opened the door, but the sound of someone crying much harder than her made her freeze in place.

Cautiously peering inside, she could see Jasper, who had his back to her, kneeling on the ground with Monty beside him. 

“Jas, it’s okay. I promise, you’re alright.” Monty was saying, his voice low and soothing. She felt like it was a private moment, something she shouldn’t invade on, but Clarke knew if she closed the door now they would know she was there. So she knelt down on the ground and tried to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. She was stuck eavesdropping on a very private moment, and she felt like shit about it. 

“I almost—“Jasper sounded like he was having difficulty breathing as he tried to get out a coherent sentence. Clarke went over the possibilities in her head as to why he could possibly be hyperventilating, and the realization came all at once. The way his hands shook before his turn, the way his leg bounced while he was waiting his turn suddenly had an explanation. _Anxiety._

“You almost went home.” Monty finished for him, reaching a hand out to rest on Jasper’s shoulder. “But you didn’t. You made it, Jasper.” 

“But next time—“ 

“Next time you’ll kick ass. I’ll make sure of it.”

Then, Monty leaned forward and kissed Jasper for a very, very, very long time. It still wasn’t long enough for Clarke to fully register what was happening, however, and she moved to put a hand up over her mouth. The slight movement made her elbow knock into the door, and Monty looked up at the sound. 

"What is it?" Jasper mumbled, pulling Monty back down by his tie. 

"Nothing. I'm gonna get you some water, okay? Stay here." 

Clarke's entire life flashed before her eyes as Monty approached the door with his eyes locked on her. After ditching them on the first night of competing and then spying on him and Jasper, Monty probably thought she was a raging bitch. 

But when he reached her, he only offered her a hand to help her up. Monty led her further down the hallway and finally spun to face Clarke, putting his hands on her shoulders. 

"Clarke," He started what sounded like the beginning of a long speech. 

"Wait." She cut him off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to see any of that. I was walking in and I--"

"I really don't care how it happened." Monty interrupted. "I don't care that you were watching, I don't care about anything except keeping our secret."

"Your secret...?" Clarke stared blankly. 

"You saw us kissing." Monty said. "You can't tell anyone that we're together. If it got back to my parents...I'd be dead. And relationships between competitors are against tournament rules. We'll be disqualified." 

She didn't know that. She had no idea it was such a big deal that Jasper and Monty were together. Really, it made sense to Clarke. The way Jasper looked at Monty like he put the stars in the sky and the way Monty spent every night helping Jasper study suddenly made much more sense. 

"Please, Clarke." 

"Of course." Clarke finally managed, nodding rapidly. "I promise. I won't tell anyone." 

Monty seemed to relax, but only a little. Clarke understood why he might be wary of trusting her, but he had no choice anymore. He had to trust her. To help with that process, Clarke decided that now would be a good time to try and fix what she'd done earlier. 

"Um," she began awkwardly, "sorry about being so weird and distant. I have problems focusing on what's important." 

Monty titled his head to the side like a confused puppy. "What do you mean?" 

“I mean I’m so focused on winning this stupid competition that I push everyone away when they try to be friends with me because I was raised in a competitive environment where I was taught that my peers are predators and I must avoid them.” Clarke recited the usual monologue that she gave whoever asked about her social stance.  
Monty stared. “No, um. I meant, what did you mean about being distant?”

Now it was Clarke’s turn to stare. 

“When I ditched you guys at dinner? And then didn’t talk or look at you guys until now?”

“Oh, that.” Monty shrugged. He seemed phenomenally unbothered by the whole thing, which was definitely not what Clarke had been expecting. “Bellamy said that you had something going on in your personal life. We wanted to give you space.”

 _“Bellamy?”_ This was the most confusing conversation Clarke had ever had.

“Yeah. Last week. He told Raven that you were occupied with some family business.”

So Bellamy had listened. He’d also gone out of his way to explain things to Raven. In all of her years of meeting new people at schools and extra community courses, no one had ever done something so nice for her. Clarke grinned before focusing her attention back on Monty. 

“Well, yeah. It was family business. Thanks for understanding.”

“Thanks for being so cool about this.” Monty smiled in a way that made his entire face light up. Clarke wasn’t even surprised when he hugged her. It seemed like something Monty would do. 

“I have to go say goodbye to Octavia.” Clarke told him, killing all the optimism that had just come from the last five minutes. “Maybe we could do something later this week? I promise I won’t leave.”

Monty nodded. “I’m sorry Octavia is leaving. I know you two were close.” 

Clarke had never imagined that she’d be close with anyone. She didn’t picture coming to this and making friends with anyone over the entire 9 weeks of competition, let alone in the first 3 rounds. She simply nodded at Monty, turning to leave. 

“We are.”  
/////  
“I put my name in your phone as ‘Your Highness’ okay?” Octavia said, thrusting Clarke’s phone into her hands. They were standing in the lobby of the hotel, all of Octavia’s luggage around them. Clarke was trying to act optimistic and happy in her last few minutes with Octavia, but it was difficult. She looked so disappointed. “I want you to text me every day. Tell me how the rounds go and just ask if you need help with literature or history. You could ask Bell too, but you’d get a long and unnecessary speech about various mythological figures.”

Bellamy shook his head. “O likes to pretend that she doesn’t love those speeches.” 

“Aw, you’ll miss me.” Octavia nudged him. 

She gave them final hugs and promises to text often. Clarke couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy towards Bellamy, who would get to return home and see Octavia again in six weeks. Clarke didn’t often wish she had siblings, but she wouldn’t mind having Octavia. 

“See you around, Clarke.” Octavia waved from her taxi. “It’ll be down to you two in the finals. I’d put money on it.” 

When she was gone, they both sighed and made their way towards the elevator. The ride up to the sixth floor was silent, and Bellamy seemed more exhausted and morose than she’d ever seen him. He was leaning against the elevator wall, his eyes closed. Black curls were framing his face and making him look much, much younger than he actually was.  
“I guess I can tell you, now that she’s gone.” He finally muttered when the doors slid open and they embarked down the hallway. “I know you’ve been wondering why I do it. I’ve seen your face every time I walk back to my seat.”

“What are you talking about?” Clarke’s brain was too tired to process what he was trying to say. 

“Not to sound like the most arrogant dickhead in the entire hotel, but I could have gotten a perfect score on all of my rounds so far. It’s not because my intelligence is far above average for my age, like I said in the application. It’s because I spend hours studying for this stuff, memorizing every detail.” 

“So how come you’ve hovered in the average zone every week?” 

“Because I wanted Octavia to win. I thought I could stay below the radar, doing well enough to stay in but not well enough to get into the top spaces. Octavia needs this money to go to college. I wanted her to win it herself.”

Clarke didn’t answer. They’d reached the door to his room. The usual noise from the pool and other rooms wasn’t filling the halls tonight, just the mechanical buzz of the vending machines down the corridor and the muffled noise of the TV past Bellamy’s door. Finally, slowly, she asked, “Why’d you even enter? If you wanted Octavia to do it herself, why’d you come?”

“Octavia is brilliant.” He said quietly. “But everyone messes up sometimes. I came as back-up, because I needed a plan to get her the tuition money even if she didn’t win.” 

“That’s…” Clarke couldn’t even begin to form the right words to describe how unthinkable what he was doing seemed to her. Coming all the way to a tournament like the ARK just to give the money to someone else was something she couldn’t wrap her head around. He had so much determination in his eyes, so much willpower. And it wasn’t even for his own benefit. “That’s like, the nicest thing I could ever imagine.”

Almost unknowingly, Clarke had taken a step towards him. Bellamy took that as an invitation to reach up and push a lock of stray golden curls behind her ear. She closed her eyes, noticing the way his cool hand against her cheek made her feel relaxed instead of terrified, like it should.

 _You should be terrified,_ she told herself absently, _you’re breaking every rule at once._

Bellamy reached back and fumbled for his hotel room door. It was pushed open and he took her arm, meaning to guide her inside the room. He leaned down, his lips inches away from hers, his hand moving down to rest on her waist…

“I can’t.” She jerked away, hastily pulling her hands away from him. The silence was deafening now, no longer comfortable. He stared at her with the same expression Raven had had on her face two weeks ago, but this felt more painful. In the silence, she spoke again. “You want to win. I get that. But I…I need to win, too. I have reasons too. And I can’t…I can’t get distracted from that.”

He nodded slowly, casting his eyes away from hers as if she hurt to look at. 

“Sorry I distracted you from what was important.” He said, closing the door behind him with a muffled click. Clarke sighed and closed her eyes, wishing that winning wasn’t the most important thing in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so! That was hopefully a much more bearable wait this time around! I tried to write as quickly as I could so I could keep this going. 
> 
> Something I really wanted to do in this AU was keep slight parallels to the canon!verse. So I added in Jasper's anxiety because it was (for awhile) a really important part of his character in the show and the struggles he had with overcoming his fears. 
> 
> And when I said slowburn Bellarke I meant like slowwwwburn. The slowest burn you could imagine. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and reviewing! Come talk to me on Tumblr @babeliciousrockgod


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